Improvement in label-holders



J. B. GATHRIG-HT.

' LABEL HOLDER.

No.187,372. Pa. t ented Feb. 13, 1877.

. OINCIN Witnesses.- Iwvenlor:

% QWM )6 NPETERS, PHOTO-LlTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D c

JOSTAH B. GATHRIGHT, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

IMPROVEMENT IN LABEL-HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 187,372, dated February 13, 1877; applicai ion filed August 18,1876.

To all whom it may concern Be-it known that I, JOSIAH B. GATHRIGHT, of the city of Louisville, county of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks and Label-Holders for Mail-Bags and similar uses; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is especially designed for use with mail-bags and similar uses; and consists in a circular label-holder and combined lock and label-holder, as hereinafter described.

The lock may be constructed in the usual way, except that the two face-plates are made to project beyond the rim-piece oneeighth of an inch, more or less, all around the circular part, and the inner faces of these projections or flanges are provided with grooves, one in each, opposite to the other, one-sixteenth of an inch deep, more or less, which extend around about on a level with the surface of the rim-piece of the lock. The grooves begin at the locking side or edge of the lock at c, and extend around to cl, Where they terminate, and a stop, 0, is provided to prevent the label from escaping at this end. The flanges and grooves thus described form the labelholder.

The label is cut the proper width and length, andis forced into the grooves from the end 0, where they are open, until it encircles the rim of the look. This curved position in the grooves keeps the label in place, and, as further safeguard, a lug on the locking end of the shackle closes the open ends of the grooves when it is locked.

The names of the places between which it is label or slide.

to pass are written on the label, one on each end. For the purpose of shifting the destination from one to the other of these at pleasure, a thin piece of elastic metal, a, is provided, cut to fit and slide in the grooves, and about one-half the length of the label. One end of this metal strip is curled up,'so as to form a small thumb-catch, by means of which it may be moved about in the grooves at pleasure. A lug on the shackle closes the open end of the grooves when the shackle is locked, and thus prevents the removal of the These grooves may be formed by simply casting small inwardly-projecting flanges on the inner opposite faces of the two main flanges heretofore mentioned. The space between these small flanges and thesurface 0f the circular rim of the lock forms the desired grooves for label and slide.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A label-holder provided with longitudinally-curved grooves, in which thelabel is held in place by its curved position, as herein shown and described.

2. A combined lock and label-holder for mail-bags and similar uses, in which the perimeter face of the lock is provided with longitudinally-curved grooves to hold the label, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with a label-holder formed of longitudinally-curved grooves, as described, 

